Sainristil: Wolverines playing role of 'underdogs' against Alabama
As time continues to wind down until the 110th Rose Bowl Game, preparation and anticipation are reaching new heights. The No. 1-ranked Michigan Wolverines will take on the No. 4-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in what will be one of the most picturesque college football games of all time.
Two of college football's blue bloods squaring off in what is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and prestigious stadiums in America on Jan. 1 will truly be a sight to behold for the sport's biggest fans.
Michigan finds itself with a 13-0 record heading into the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive season. Meanwhile, Alabama, with arguably the biggest win of the college football season, is appearing in the CFP for the eighth time in the 10-year history of the tournament.
On Tuesday, Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter noted that the Crimson Tide often appear in the College Football Playoff, so he fittingly and jokingly renamed it the "Alabama Invitational."
Alabama head coach Nick Saban will be gunning for his seventh national championship with the Crimson Tide, while Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, although in their third CFP appearance in as many years, will be looking to claim their first CFP victory in program history.
The two programs have taken near-polar opposite paths to get to this point. Saban and Alabama have enjoyed nearly 15 years of success and trophy-winning, while Harbaugh and Michigan just recently broke through the threshold of mediocrity to earn the No. 1 overall seed.
Regardless of what the seeds or betting lines may say, Alabama is largely being viewed as the favorite in this matchup. Perhaps many are siding with the Tide because of Saban's long history of success, combined with the fact that Jim Harbaugh is 1-6 in Bowl games during his time at Michigan, which is a rather justifiable claim.
But Michigan defensive back and captain Mike Sainristil said on Thursday that he also views the top-ranked Wolverines as the underdogs in this game.
"I've always felt like we're underdogs, no matter what," Sainristil said. "No, 1, No. 2, No. 3, 4... 25 — whatever we're ranked, I just feel like we're underdogs because of many different reasons."
"Our schedule wasn't the best, they say coach [Sherrone] Moore stepping in, doing what he did, even then, that wasn't good enough, so we don't care about that."
Sainristil's comments are ironic, seeing as how the Wolverines have been favored in all 13 of their games this season — even in the final three games of the regular season when Sherrone Moore stepped in for the suspended Jim Harbaugh — and barring a major turn of events, will be favored in their 14th contest of the season come kickoff on New Year's Day.
To Sainristil, it doesn't matter what the rankings or betting lines say — what matters is the team sticking to its identity and finishing the job it set out to complete long before the season even began.
"We just care about the fact that we just wanna prove that we are who we say we are, not about what anyone else thinks about us."
When asked who Michigan is as a team, Sainristil responded in a captain-like way.
"[We're] a team that loves each other, a team that cares about the program, a team that's willing to do anything for the guys in the program. And that's been displayed in multiple ways this year. And a team that, no matter what you say about us, it's not gonna affect us because we only care about ourselves. And we're not looking to prove anything to you that isn't a reflection of who we are."
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